Royals notebook: Veteran Wells agrees to one-year contract
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
CLEVELAND | Veteran right-hander Kip Wells is just hoping the world slows down a little now that he’s signed with the Royals.
It’s been a heck of a year that began with his 11-month-old daughter being diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on her spine. Wells then developed a blot clot in his pitching hand less than a month into the season.
Wells spent 10 weeks on the disabled list before a brief return to Colorado culminated in his release. That allowed him to be at home, at least, for the birth last Thursday of his first son.
“I’ve stayed busy enough in the last two weeks,” he admitted, “to not be overly clogging my head with (baseball) scenarios.”
Everything seems in order now. Daughter Georgia is fine, son Deacon is healthy and wife Emily is resting at home with both children in Houston with loads of family and friends for support. Time for baseball.
“I’m obviously excited to get out of the house and back on the field,” Wells said. “I was only home for five or six days. I was able to keep throwing and due diligence to stay ready.”
Wells, 31, agreed Tuesday to a one-year contract with the Royals and joined the club in time to pitch two innings in a 9-4 loss to the Indians. He worked a scoreless seventh before an infield single and an error helped Cleveland score twice in the eighth.
“ Wells pitched primarily this season as a reliever at Colorado but spent most of his 10-year career as a starter. He does not appear to be a candidate to start Saturday in place of Kyle Davies, who was optioned last week to Class AAA Omaha.
“Not at this point, no,” Hillman said. “We don’t know exactly what we’re going to do yet (for Saturday). We’ll see how it goes through this series. Then we’ll make a decision, probably, at the last minute.”
Wells is 65-93 with a 4.64 ERA in 246 career games with five teams, including 1-2 and 5.27 this season in 15 appearances at Colorado. The Royals pursued Wells last winter as a free-agent option for their rotation before signing Brett Tomko.
“It wasn’t a total surprise,” Wells said, “that this was a potential fit.”
Hosmer’s debut
Want an idea of how advanced the Royals see first baseman Eric Hosmer, the 18-year-old selected with the third overall pick in the June draft?
Hosmer will bypass the Arizona Rookie League and begin his professional career Saturday at Idaho Falls. Such a jump is unusual for a high-school player, but the Royals did the same thing last year with infielder Mike Moustakas.
Hosmer is in game shape from a summer spent with the Midland (Ohio) Redskins, an amateur team for 16-18 year-olds in the Connie Mack League.
Applause lines
The Royals’ signing of pitcher Tim Melville in the fourth round was hailed by Baseball America draft analyst Jim Callis as the biggest coup in the recent draft.
The magazine ranked Melville as the No. 15 prospect in its pre-draft rankings. He fell to the fourth round because of signability concerns but signed with the Royals after agreeing to a $1.25 million bonus.
Callis wrote: “Kansas City got arguably the best high school pitcher in the draft in the fourth round.”
Baseball America also reports the Royals spent more than any other team in signing players drafted in the first 10 rounds: $10.165 million.
Minor details
Lefty Danny Duffy pitched five more shutout innings Monday night and got the victory when Class A Burlington won 1-0 at Quad Cities.
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